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Mickelson right in his element(s)

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif.&ndash;Phil Mickelson only had to cope with the cold and rain. The missing element yesterday was wind and that helped him ease to a five-under-par 67 and a share of the lead with Jim Furyk at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

By Doug FergusonAssociated Press

Sat., Feb. 10, 2007

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif.–Phil Mickelson only had to cope with the cold and rain. The missing element yesterday was wind and that helped him ease to a five-under-par 67 and a share of the lead with Jim Furyk at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Mickelson continued to find his stride on the greens, making three consecutive birdies on the back nine at tame Pebble Beach, then catching Furyk with a simple up-and-down for birdie at the par-5 18th to reach 12-under 132.

Furyk was pleased to see the flags drooping instead of flapping when he arrived at Poppy Hills, especially after seeing a forecast of 24-km/h wind and heavy rain. The rain was brief and light and he birdied all but one of the par-5s on his way to a 65.

That gave the PGA Tour event a good 1-2 punch at the top from the two highest-ranked players in the field.

Furyk (No.2) and Mickelson (No.6) held a three-stroke lead over rookie John Mallinger and Kevin Sutherland, who turned in the best round of the dreary afternoon by firing off 10 birdies for a 63 at Spyglass Hill.

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Brett Bingham shot 74 at Poppy Hills but remains the top Canadian with a 147 total. Jim Rutledge shot 71 at Poppy Hills for 149 to tie Mike Weir, who shot 73 at Spyglass Hill.

Sutherland thought briefly about the course record of 62 at Spyglass, just long enough to snap-hook his three-wood into the trees and out of play on the par-5 seventh. He escaped with a bogey and didn't let one bad hole take away from his round.

"Spyglass is one of my favourite courses in the world," said Sutherland, who has played it countless times, beginning with his amateur days in northern California. "I'd rather play there than Pebble Beach. But a 63 was not the score I was thinking about when I teed off."

Sutherland plays his best golf on the west coast – his only PGA Tour victory was the 2001 Accenture Match Play Championship at La Costa – and he was in the final group two weeks ago at Torrey Pines until he finished in a tie for 14th. The attention was on Tiger Woods, who isn't playing this week.

The names atop the leaderboard were strong enough to get his attention, especially since Mickelson is a two-time winner at Pebble Beach.

"I'm very much aware I need to make a lot more birdies," Sutherland said with a smile.

The tournament won't really take shape until after today's round, when everyone will have completed the three-course rotation. Mickelson heads to Spyglass Hill, where he opened with a 62 two years ago on his way to a wire-to-wire victory. Furyk takes on Pebble Beach and he can only hope the wind stays away for one more day. Sutherland gets Poppy Hills.

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